Twenty-One Weeks

(this week I am puppeteering at our church's vacation Bible school, so Sailor Sam had to make an appearance in the photo)

The Baby: She is definitely growing - she now weighs about 3/4 of a pound and is the length of a carrot. She is also quite the acrobat and enjoys keeping Momma up at night with her antics.

Me: I absolutely feel very pregnant at this point, although I know I have a long way to go yet! Each night at VBS, I've been standing on a platform and making Sailor Sam talk and interact with the kids for over two hours. When I get home, I am exhausted and pretty much fall right into bed. Still, despite some of the discomforts, I am thoroughly enjoying feeling baby girl kick and somersault inside me.

The Siblings: All three talk to her a lot. The Beast has a special "telephone" he uses to communicate with Little Sprout. He pretends to hold up a phone, will say "Hello, Baby", and then ask her a question, such as "Do you want to go to McDonalds today?" He usually ends the conversation with "Bye, Baby, talk to you next week!" It is pretty much the most adorable thing I have ever seen. He has also decided that the baby should be named "Annie" and now refers to her as such.

The Plans: I am looking into making my own nursing cover. In the past, I have done the "baby blanket tossed over my shoulder"; but this time around I would really like a proper cover. I found some tutorials that appear to be easy enough to match my sewing skills, but we'll see. I also toyed with the idea of making a diaper bag, since those have long disappeared or gotten destroyed at our house. But I am really not certain I could pull off the kind of bag I want. I did some exploring on Etsy and found some cute ones I really like. They are bookmarked for future purchase. :) Little Sprout will be getting some Etsy goodness soon - I ordered her one of these adorable hats.

Hmmm. . .now let's go see if I can convince all three offspring to take an early nap. . .

Froggy Feature Friday #2

It's time again for a little show and tell from the creative lily pad! My art desk in the corner of the living room is covered with custom projects in progress for the Christmas season. Last week, I posted some pictures of vintage ring bearer and flower girl frames for wedding attendant gifts. This week has to do with a wedding also.

The wedding is going to be a simple nature theme - the ring bearer will be carrying a pillow made of moss, the invitations show the bride and groom's initials "carved into a tree", etc. The groom-to-be loves trains; so she wanted to showcase that with a custom name train painted to match the wedding's theme. I have never done a train for a wedding before; it was a challenge to make it simple and sophisticated at the same time.

I decided to go with patterns from nature for each train piece - the veins of a leaf, wood grain, ferns, pine cones, moss, river rocks, and a dandelion blowing in the breeze.

The edges of each train piece were painted in a creamy vanilla with scattered green leaves, and the wheels were painted to look like cut tree stumps.

Overall, I love the way it turned out. The bride-to-be hopes that someday they will have a little boy to play with the train. :)

Custom name trains make perfect Christmas gifts, and there is still time to order yours to receive it in time for the holidays. Check out all the themes and colors available at The Framed Frog.

(and don't forget, savvy shoppers, Black Friday and Cyber Monday are coming! There will be a fantastic sale at The Framed Frog - buy any item and get a second item of equal or lesser value 50% off! Also, select items will have free shipping!)

Happy Friday everyone!

Found It Friday - Stars

It's that time again for some more inspiration! Welcome to Found It Friday, where I take a theme, draw inspiration from it, and show you five results of that inspiration. I hope you can join in this week and show us all some starry goodness.

And that is our theme this week: Stars!

1. The first thing that came to mind with this week's theme was origami stars. These little cuties are super easy to make and can be used for so many things - jewelry, garlands, confetti, etc. I think a glass bowl filled with origami stars in similar colors can be quite beautiful as home decor. You can make your own or even buy origami stars premade by crafters on Etsy. (origami stars by zhoira at smashingapps)

2. I always love to include at least one food inspiration each week. I googled "star cupcake" and found hundreds of starry cupcakes, many of them Fourth of July inspired. My favorite was this sweet swirly pink frosted one with dainty purple stars scattered on top. (cupcake from donuts to delirium)

3. And now, moving on from cupcakes (but not necessarily from sprinkles!), these fun yet chic star hair pins caught my eye. The resin stars contain hundreds of tiny neon sprinkles, perfect for the party girl or the girl who wishes she were at a party. The best part? These flashy pins can be yours for the low price of just $12.00. (bad hair day neon sprinkle pins by high strung beads)

4. Another way to add a touch of the celestial beauties to your home is by bringing in some beautiful star-shaped flowers. There are several kinds, and I found this red star flower to particularly striking. Just one placed in a simple bud vase would brighten a room instantly. (red star flower photo by DLC Flower Photos)

5. I see those metal barn stars displayed everywhere - front doors, porches, even living rooms or entryways. Usually they are painted a dark red, navy blue, or rust color and then distressed on the edges. I love this take on the traditional barn star - cleverly decoupaged with coordinating papers and then distressed at the creases. This Olivia Star would be a great addition to my daughter's green and pink butterfly room! (Olivia Star by 4 guys and a girl)

Well, it's time to see what star-inspired finds you came up with this week. Go ahead and link up below, and I will be sure to check it out!

There will be no Found It! Friday posts for the next two weeks. I will be in Canada visiting my sister and her husband and lavishing a lot of hugs, kisses, and cuddles on my new niece, Delaney Hope. I may still post here and there throughout the weeks, but Found It! Friday will have to wait until I get back. And when I do, the theme will be: Back to School. :) woohoo!

A Diagnosis and Chai Tea Cupcakes

So another intensely busy week has begun. I feel a little overwhelmed with all the appointments and meetings for Davey, and the etsy shop orders keep piling up. I've had so many custom orders with specific deadlines in the past couple of weeks that I've stayed up past midnight every night and risen at 6:00 am just trying to keep up.
As many of you have been probably been wondering, we did receive an "official" diagnosis for Davey last week. After his long morning appointment with a speech therapist, occupational therapist, physical therapist, child psychiatrist, and pediatrician, Davey has been diagnosed with high-functioning autism. I have in hand an Autism Speaks 100 Day Kit that is helping us understand a little more of what the future is going to be like with this diagnosis. We still have a lot to learn, and tomorrow we will be discussing specific therapy options and preschool possibilities with the special education therapists. I am still processing the diagnosis - amazed that God found us worthy to undertake such a task and terrified of the responsibility and life changes.

I'll keep you all updated on our little man as we continue through this process. Davey did amazingly well throughout the long process and especially enjoyed the physical therapy room with its balance beams and bouncy balls. The therapist discovered that Davey has very little core strength, causing sitting up and climbing up into his car seat to be an exhausting task. This is why he has such poor balance and has difficulty doing simple tasks, like walking backwards or jumping off a step.

Meanwhile, I wanted to share a recipe I discovered recently when I was getting ready for a premiere jewelry party. I made these chai tea latte cupcakes - divine! and so here is the recipe:
Vanilla Chai Tea Latte Cupcakes
Ingredients:
1/2 cup sugar
2 oz butter, softened
1/2 cup milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
1 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground ginger
dash of salt
1 or 2 chai tea bags
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place liners into cupcake pan.(recipe make about twelve)
Heat up milk on stove, remove from stove. Place tea bags into milk, cover and steep for 5-10 minutes.
Cream sugar and butter together. Mix in egg and vanilla. Mix in milk.
Sift flour, baking powder, spices and salt together. Mix dry and wet ingredients together.
Divide batter into cupcake liners. Bake for 15-18 minutes or until a tester inserted comes out clean.
Allow to cool before frosting with your favorite buttercream frosting. Sprinkle with cinnamon. :)

Yummo! Happy Monday all!

Giveaway! woot! woot!

Exciting news folks! My All Around the Mulberry Bush Wall Initial is being featured at 3 Garnets and 2 Sapphires! After you read all the extremely nice things Karen writes about my work (I am humbled and overwhelmed), you can enter a giveaway to win your own wall initial. If you are not in love with the Mulberry Bush design or have something different in mind, never fear! The winner will be able to choose whatever design they want for their wall initial.

This is an especially fun giveaway for The Framed Frog to participate in. Just a year and a half ago, I opened my Etsy shop with great misgivings and no sales for weeks. Karen kindly offered to host a giveaway on her site, and that giveaway, along with some other factors, helped launch my shop and get the sales going. Karen does a lot of great giveaways and is very candid and thorough in her reviews. Go check her site out!

A couple of other notes: We will be headed out to Davey's appointment with the special education folks soon, and I will update you later on that. Also, please don't forget this week's Found It Friday theme: sand and surf. The Found It Friday posts take a little time to put together, so start gathering your ideas and photos now. Mr. Linky was looking a little lonely last week. :(

Found It Friday - Daisies

It's time again for a breath of fresh inspiration. Welcome to Found It Friday, where I (and other awesome bloggers) share how we were inspired by the simple yet beautiful flower called a daisy. In case you're joining us for the first time, each week I post a theme for inspiration. All participating bloggers come up with five things inspired by the theme. You can read more about how you can join in on the fun with this new meme here.

He loves me, he loves me not. . . let's explore this field of daisies together.

1. I love the cheerful effect that giant Gerber daisies have. I couldn't think of a more appropriate place for my daisies than my big sunny kitchen window. I bought adorable hourglass vases at IKEA, filled the bottoms with white rice, and then inserted the Gerber daisies (which I cut down to the height I wanted.) Instant happiness!

2. Perhaps if you love flowers but have trouble keeping them alive (I have no green thumb whatsoever!), this steel daisy chain may work perfectly in your garden. It is made entirely out of recycled propane tanks by Shining Sun Garden Works. Gorgeous!

3. The Drama Queen and I were so inspired by the shape of daisies that we made our own monogrammed daisy hair clippies. (tutorial)

4. Daisies are just lovely at weddings! Here is a very chic and easy way to make your wedding favors memorable - just add a sweet daisy to the top of a standard wedding bubbles container. (daisy wedding ideas)

5. And speaking of sweet, make edible daisies like these charming beauties to decorate cupcakes for your next garden party or bridal shower. (Puffed-Up Petal Cupcakes by Wilton)

And finally, as a little bonus this week, I made a daisy-inspired treasury at Etsy, highlighting items featuring fresh yellows and clean whites. It's easy (and addicting!) to make your own treasuries at Etsy.com. It's strangely exhilarating to organize a group of your favorite things and make it look beautiful. You can see my entire treasury here.

So, show me your daisy love! Link up with your Found It Friday daisy post below, and be sure to visit everyone else's posts to kick up the creativity this weekend!

Next week's inspiration is: Sand and Surf . Start gathering your wonderful finds now and wow us with a beautiful post next week!

(and if you came visiting through Follow Me, Chickadee Fridays, welcome! I am so glad you dropped by!)

Mom Who Works at Home

So a lot of cute photos of my kiddos sneak their way into my blog. It's my way of cheering myself up when I realize that I have chosen this path of temporary insanity. :) One might think that those darling rascals occupy all of my time.

It's true. Luckily, I have mad multitasking skills; while donning the hats of Chaos Prevention Director and Sibling Peace Chairwoman, I can also claim the title of Mom Who Works at Home. Beyond laundry, vacuuming, and dishes, I also paint and create things that I sell through my (mostly) on-line shop The Framed Frog. Most of my work is custom - I spend a lot of time working with a customer to make sure the design, colors, fabric choice, everything is exactly what they want.

Lately I've been a little swamped with these custom orders but am slogging my way determinedly through them. So, without further ado, here are some of the completed orders:

This was a local order for a dear friend. Her sweet baby girl has been through a lot - most recently a surgery to put in a feeding tube. I hope these wall letters add some cheer and happiness to her room!

Okay, so this wasn't technically an order. It's just that when my best friend has a birthday, I'm inclined to pull out all the stops and make her a dramatic zebra print memo board. I tried some new techniques on this board - making the black and white damask star fasteners and adding tiny rhinestones.

This particular piece was ordered as "a frame that includes some blue and green and has some cute monkeys on it." I do love it when I get a little artistic freedom in a custom piece!

This memo board makes me think of my grandmother's kitchen. That, or the brown, yellow, and orange blocked linoleum in my childhood kitchen. So fun and bright!

Another memo board - this one was actually for a funeral. People wrote little notes to the family of the deceased and stuck them under the ribbons on this board.

Some more custom name trains - sports-themed trains for twin boys turning two!

Frame in polka dots and stripes. Simple, colorful, and of course personalized.

Another memo board - in Amy Butler Star Paisley in Lime fabric. I think pink and green are a delicious combination!

Can you guess what holiday this was a gift for?

Custom sign for a customer currently in love with the color scheme of teal, brown, and ivory.

This memo board was created for a customer who has a cabin in the Adirondacks.

Custom orders in the works include a race car-themed name train; a construction theme for another name train, a few more memo boards, four orders for wall letters, etc.

Busy, busy.

Please don't forget about Found It Friday tomorrow! The inspiration is daisies, and I am hoping to have some more link up this week! (pretty please)

Cotton Candy Clouds

I saw them today! It wasn't for very long, but I definitely took the time to stop and admire their white puffy fullness. They looked gorgeous against the brilliant blue sky! And they have been long overdue - for weeks now we have been staring at their dreary gray cousins as the rain has poured down. And poured down.
But finally! Some white cotton candy clouds, some long-awaited sunshine, and even a pink sky or two!

(Cotton Candy Clouds: The Gossips)

(Cotton Candy Clouds: The Birdwatchers)

(Cotton Candy Clouds: The Hitchhiker)

And I am hoping for some of those pretty skies today, as we are planning on an adventure at the Oregon Zoo on $2 Tuesday. :)

Favorites Volume I

1. 25 assorted buttons in an array of sherbety colors by mariam
( I can think of so many uses for these in the Drama Queen's new bedroom. We are doing it in shades of pink, green, and yellow.)
2. midnight blue little itty bitty star bowls by kiln goddess
(I want to mount these on the wall in my dining room. So simple and lovely!)
3. silvery birds on a branch salt and pepper shakers by snapsink
(I have found myself collecting an assortment of birdy things, and I just love this vintage set.)
4. spring blue damask on moss green fabric home organizer by pink pins and needles
(The main floor bathroom is in these colors. Wouldn't this be fantastic holding magazines and books?)
5. Vintage 1950s pink aluminum canister and kitchen set by treasure again
(I am embracing the pink countertops in our "new" kitchen and redoing my kitchen theme in a vintage 1950"s feel. This set is just fabulous!)

Just doing a little browsing and dreaming and planning tonight. . .

The Framed Frog Anniversary

One year ago today I launched my Etsy shop - The Framed Frog.

It allowed me to unleash my creative potential.

I found myself inspired by my crazy little ones and the beautiful state of Oregon.

I learned to focus on details and make unique custom items that customers could not get anywhere else.

I am so happy to be doing something I love while still staying home with my kiddies.

I had 93 sales in my first year! I can't wait to see what The Framed Frog has in its future. . .

A Few of My Favorite Things

Hooray! December is officially here! We now get to put up our special advent calendar and start counting down the days to Christmas!

This fantastic calendar was made for our family by my husband's grandma. She is so talented! All of the nativity pieces attach with velcro to each day on the calendar. The kiddies get to take turns placing angels, palm trees, sheep, wise men, etc. in the nativity scene until we reach day 25. Then we get to place baby Jesus in the manger and talk about the most wonderful reason that we celebrate Christmas. I know that this will be something we keep and treasure for many years to come! It's just one of my favorite things!

And speaking of favorite things, I determined that this year I would shop Etsy for some of the kiddies' Christmas presents and find some incredible handmade things. I particularly looked for handmade play food, as my offspring are budding little chefs that love to mix and stir and chop and bake. The plastic stuff you can get at toy stores has literally been gnawed to pieces by my eager young cooks! I needed something more substantial, and of course way more adorable:

I got this set of sturdy crocheted veggies and fruits made by a fellow stay-at-home momma that runs her shop While You Sleep I Crochet. I can't wait to see what clever little recipes my kiddies will come up with as they play with these cute fruits and veggies!

Of course, I had to balance out all those healthy veggies and fruits with some bona fide junk food! This sewn felt food set, which includes a frosted donut, a hamburger with all the fixings, a corn dog with mustard, a pizza, and bowtie pasta with sauce and meatballs, was created by the owner of Blue Star Jewelry. Hope you're not getting too hungry!

Isn't this felt cookie counting set just too cute for words? Each frosted felt cookie has an embroidered number and is nicely padded. The whole set comes inside a drawstring bag (you get to choose the fabric!) which is personalized. (a great touch!) Heart Felt Crafts made this set, and I just saw that they now offer a felt fish counting set as well. :)

I mentioned these lovely leg warmers in an earlier post (the Drama Queen's pirate costume). Unfortunately the day I posted it, Mama Runs With Scissors was on vacation. This ultra-talented seamstress makes these great Kool Kid Legs that can be worn as leg warmers or as "sleeves" under a short-sleeve shirt. She has tons of designs for both boys and girls. The Drama Queen especially loves her rainbow set, and I just love the clever Converse sneaker ones as well.

Finally, I couldn't help but browse a little the other day for a possible birthday present for myself. :) I stumbled upon The Factory and fell in love with this sweet pink birds' nest necklace with three little pearly eggs to represent my three little ones. The necklace arrived in a lovely handmade box (I just adore the vintage children paper!) just a few days after I ordered it. Happy Birthday to Me! (well, tomorrow, anyway! Ill take my time and enjoy my last day of being 29!)

So, I encourage you to buy handmade this Christmas! You will find beautiful quality gifts and sellers that will give you incredible customer service! Visit Etsy today.